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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/23955808">Quarantine Drabbles</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/CSIGurlie07/pseuds/lena-in-a-red-dress'>lena-in-a-red-dress (CSIGurlie07)</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Supergirl (TV 2015)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>F/F, Gen</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-05-02</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-05-02</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-02 15:15:01</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>10</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>8,321</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/23955808</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/CSIGurlie07/pseuds/lena-in-a-red-dress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>A collection of drabbles from my quarantine prompt party(s) during the COVID-19 crisis. Assorted characters and ships.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Alex Danvers/Lena Luthor, Kara Danvers/Lena Luthor, Samantha "Sam" Arias/Lena Luthor</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>12</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>87</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Chapter 1</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>A Reigncorp hospital AU based off of <a href="https://valkyrielluthor.tumblr.com/post/169733998943/reigncorp-au-where-sam-and-lena-work-together-and">this gifset</a></p>
<hr/>
<p>“Doctor Luthor,” Sam barks, catching sight of a dark smile and darker hair. The surgeon in question glances over without pausing her conversation with Nia, a new resident. One eyebrow cocks before her gaze returns to Nia.</p>
<p>“A word?” she requests sharply as she closes the distance and Nia makes herself scarce. </p>
<p>With a roll of her eyes, Lena tilts her head in the direction she’d headed, inviting Sam to walk with her. </p>
<p>“I have an oncology consult in about seven minutes.” As Sam falls into step beside her, she can hear the click of Lena’s tongue piercing. “What’d I do this time?”</p>
<p>“Sprained metacarpal,” is all Sam needs to say.</p>
<p>Lena smirks. “Ah.” <em>click</em>. “I wondered if he’d have the guts to say anything.”</p>
<p>Sam huffs in exasperation. “Doctor Luthor–”</p>
<p>“Lena.”</p>
<p>“Doctor Luthor, this is your fifth patient complaint since I’ve come on board as care coordinator.”</p>
<p>Lena smirks. “It’s also the fifth time a patient has grabbed my ass. Key fact there,” she winks as she reaches to press the call button for the elevator. <em>click</em>.</p>
<p>Sam’s cheeks heat at the sound. She’s doing it on purpose now, she knows it. The doors open and they both step into the elevator, the only two occupants. When she finally looks at Lena again, the woman is tugging striped sleeves up past her elbows to expose pale slender arms, and long fingers fold over to grasp deceptively strong biceps shrouded in a blue scrub top. </p>
<p>“If you start bringing in less handsy patients, you’ll start getting less complaints.”</p>
<p>Sam sighs. “You know it doesn’t work that way.”</p>
<p>“Then you know you’re going to keep getting complaints.”</p>
<p>“Doctor Luthor…”</p>
<p>Lena reaches out with long fingers to tug on the elevator stop. The car grinds to a halt, and Sam swallows thickly when Lena turns and faces her head on, her eyes dark and her lips curling into the smug, superior smirk that Sam knows so well.</p>
<p>“Doctor Arias, let’s keep things in perspective, shall we?” Lena purrs. <em>click</em>. </p>
<p>Sam inhales slowly. </p>
<p>“How many complaints have I received?”</p>
<p>“Ever?” Sam snipes back.</p>
<p>Lena wrinkles her nose at the half-hearted attempt at snark. “We’ll say five. Now, how many positive feedback surveys have I gotten?”</p>
<p>“That’s not what this conversation is about–”</p>
<p>“How many?” <em>click</em>. Sam’s eyes drift to Lena’s lips. They smirk under her gaze. “How many?”</p>
<p>Sam shakes her head, both an answer and an effort to clear it from the inappropriate thoughts probing at her consciousness. “I don’t have a number for you.”</p>
<p>She does, and it’s well among the highest across the entire staff, but she’s not about to give the already insufferable surgeon the satisfaction.</p>
<p>Lena doesn’t believe her, judging by the crinkles that form at the outer corners of her eyes, but she doesn’t push. “Well, let’s go with twenty a month, since that’s how many thank you cards I’ve received directly in the past three weeks. You’ve been here six months, so that’s one hundred and twenty, which makes a roughly one to twenty-four ratio. And that’s not including the patients who give a neutral or no-response because they come in expecting me to do my fucking job, and I did.”</p>
<p>“Lena…”</p>
<p>“Did anyone die?”</p>
<p>“No…”</p>
<p>“Any broken bones? No.”</p>
<p>“Barely…”</p>
<p>“Then as long as the patients see fit to not grab my cooch, tits, or ass, we’re good.”</p>
<p>The casual vulgarity brings a flush to Sam’s cheeks. Lena restarts the elevator, and Sam expels a deep breath. </p>
<p>“You’re lucky you’re good enough the hospital deems you worth the liability,” she remarks. </p>
<p>That, and the fact the hospital wouldn’t have a leg to stand on if Lena sued them for wrongful termination, which Sam is well aware is Lena’s fallback should the worst come to pass. Given the fact that the only complaints against Lena were those made by men who received a physical redirect in response to their inappropriate contact, a complaint not received by male doctors in equal measure, she would have a solid case. And Sam personally knows that Lena keeps immaculate records and documents every altercation for that express purpose. </p>
<p>But Lena doesn’t mention that this time. Instead, her dark grin turns devilish.</p>
<p>“We’ll see if you’re still saying that when my tongue is between your legs tonight.”</p>
<p><em>click</em>.</p>
<p>Fuck.</p>
<p>Liquid heat pools in Sam’s panties, entirely against her will. The elevator dings open, calling a frustrating end to their conversation.</p>
<p>“See you at mine?” Lena says in a low voice as she slides out of the elevator, her fingers brushing sensually across Sam’s wrists on her way.</p>
<p>Sam swallows the heady lump in her throat, thrusting one arm out to halt the doors from sliding shut. “Look, just– remember you’re a doctor, okay?”</p>
<p>Lena fixes her with a look.</p>
<p>“Do no harm?” Sam supplies, a sharp reminder of the oath they took before donning their white coats for the first time. </p>
<p>“Take no shit,” comes the return, Lena sauntering casually backwards towards the oncology ward. </p>
<p>Sam withdraws, allowing the doors to seal her alone in the empty elevator. The solitude allows her to take a quaking breath, and run a trembling hand through her bangs. She jabs the button that will take her to the seventh floor and her office, where she can take care of her ruined panties and renewed frustration.</p>
<p>That woman is going to be the death of her.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Chapter 2</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>PROMPT: What about a supercorp angst (maybe with a happy ending), after season five, Lex in jail, Leviathan defeated, Lena decides that she doesn't need/want Kara or the "superfriends", after all they were so quick to forget and judge her (when she isn't the only one with a villain family)? and, how the super team deals with being the villain of someone's story? (submitted by thechaseaphrodite)</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>When Lena finally acts against Lex, she does so with devastating efficiency. </p><p>It starts with Lex– a thorough and exhaustive accounting of every misapplication of funds, every subversive contingency he’d planned and kept in reserve should he ever be told no by the federal government. She establishes beyond the shadow of a doubt the creation of Cadmus under his hand, before he finally set it free to wreak terror across the country. </p><p>When the news breaks, Kara breathes a sigh of relief, grateful that for once she’d been proven wrong.</p><p>By the time the trial commences and the Senate begins hearing testimony, the Superfriends wait with acute anticipation to get their DEO back.</p><p>That anticipation shatters when Lena’s testimony clearly and without hesitation calls for the complete and immediate dissolution of the Department of Extranormal Operations.</p><p>“Lena…” Kara exhales when she visits her friend’s balcony later that night. Betrayal stabs deep in her chest. “How could you?”</p><p>“How could you?” Lena clips back, all bite and no give. She places one hand on the mountain of paper onto her desk, almost a foot deep. “Did you really think I wouldn’t have seen what the DEO had done before my brother became director?”</p><p>Kara swallows thickly. She doesn’t know what lies among those reams of paper, what this reality might hold that differs between the DEO that is and the DEO she knew it to be.</p><p>“Incursions into homes and businesses without warrant or probable cause. Aliens and humans, arrested without due process! Prisoners vanished without a trace.”</p><p>“That– that’s not–”</p><p>“And don’t you dare try to tell me that it’s unique to this reality!” Lena seethes. “There are events detailed in these pages that are breathtakingly familiar, Supergirl, and I know for a fact that the DEO was involved with more than a few of them in the last reality too.”</p><p>For the first time in her life, words completely abandon Kara, in any language. All she can do is shake her head, mouth agape.</p><p>“And should I even bother to list the countless reports of unnecessary force perpetrated by the great Supergirl herself? How long have you operated outside the law as an anonymous vigilante, doling out justice however you see fit?”</p><p>“That is not true,” Kara finally finds her voice. “I only ever assisted the police–”</p><p>“By doling out pre-judicial corporal punishment in the form of concussions and broken bones, for law enforcement officers who have repeatedly voiced frustration towards your self-insertion in pedestrian crime. How dare you.”</p><p>Kara blinks, and tears spill down her cheeks. “Lena, that’s not–”</p><p>“How dare you come to me, again and again, for help you didn’t deserve, in exploits you never made fully known to me. And how dare you have the gall to condemn me for not wanting the DEO, this organization, to get their hands on my best friend!”</p><p>It takes every ounce of Kara’s strength not to stagger back under the force of Lena’s words. The anger in her voice hits like a physical blow, and the fire in her eyes sears Kara’s soul. She can only stare, with lips quivering, as she waits for Lena’s next move. </p><p>Thankfully, it’s not to call for security, or reveal a hidden stash of kryptonite. Instead she draws herself to her full height, chin lifting to regard Kara with a withering glare.</p><p>“My brother may have intended to insult me by putting me in charge of outreach and charity,” she delivers coolly, “but it’s in that role I’ve learned first hand that the shadows the alien populations fears at night aren’t thieves or bigots. It’s the DEO, and their pet muscle. In my foolishness, I allowed you to abuse my trust and my resources, but no more. I will not rest until the DEO is reduced to nothing more than a shameful bullet point in future history books.”</p><p>Kara tries to reach out, just one more time. “Lena, please, we can explain–”</p><p>“I’m done trusting you,” Lena snaps. “Any of you.”</p><p>Her eyes harden, and Kara knows she has no chance of being heard tonight. Or maybe ever. </p><p>“Get out of my office,” comes one final command. “And don’t you dare come back.”</p>
<hr/><p>Kara isn’t the only one to confront Lena.</p><p>The day the Senate verdict comes down, a drunken Alex appears in Lena’s office late that night, steeped in booze and resentment.</p><p>“I thought we were friends.”</p><p>The accusation comes slurred and bitter, a wave of thwarted hope and a career tarnished with misdeed.</p><p>Lena’s brow lifts in response, arch and skeptical.</p><p>“And how on Earth could you think that?”</p><p>“We trusted you, welcomed you into our lives–”</p><p>“Out of necessity,” Lena snaps back, tone biting and unforgiving. “Because you needed to ensure I would jump to whenever you asked.”</p><p>“That’s not…”</p><p>“When my brother died, how many of you besides Kara checked on me?”</p><p>Alex splutters wordlessly, indignant but unable to provide an answer.</p><p>“One,” Lena supplies for her. “James. And only because at that point he was more mine than yours.”</p><p>“I didn’t realize it was about who’s whose–”</p><p>“And when Kara blurted her lie to me in the hopes I would absolve her of her own guilt, who among you reached out to me? How many of you reached out when your precious Supergirl learned the truth that my brother beat her to the punch?”</p><p>Alex scowls at her. Clearly, she’d had more concerning things to contend with when she learned Lena had stolen Myriad.</p><p>“Face it, Alex! I was only ever Kara’s friend, and even that was nothing more than a hollow facade. I was completely and utterly alone, and you knew it better than I did.”</p><p>The office fills with silence. Lena leans forward, features dark in the evening shadows.</p><p>“Don’t you dare come here and pretend it was any different.”</p><p>Alex scoffs. Shaking her head, she lets it hang for a moment before looking up with mournful regret. “We could have loved you, Lena. You realize that?”</p><p>“Funny,” comes the chill response. “A year ago I thought you already did.”</p><p>She straightens, and returns a lofty gaze. “Now, are you able to stagger your way back home or do I need to call you a cab?”</p><p>“I’ve got her,” says a soft voice from the balcony.</p><p>Kara steps into the office with an apology etched into her features, one that Lena ignores.</p><p>“Supergirl, come to collect her ringmaster.”</p><p>“I didn’t think she would come here,” Kara says quietly, crossing to grasp her sister’s wrist and tug her towards the balcony. “I’m sorry.”</p><p>“I’m not. Clearly someone needed a reality check.”</p><p>“It won’t happen again.”</p><p>“Good,” Lena clips out, returning to her desk and settling back into her chair. “Because if it does, I’ll obtain a restraining order.”</p><p>Kara falls still, her gaze softening with anguish. “Lena…”</p><p>“Goodbye, Supergirl.”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Chapter 3</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>PROMPT: Reigncorp -- "I wish you were here" - submitted by anonymous</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Sam’s favorite feature of Obsidian Platinum is the video calling. Sure, the fact that it was part of L-Corp’s contribution to the technology, but more than that it allowed Lena to watch Ruby’s soccer game in real time, as though she were seeing it through Sam’s eyes.</p><p>“Yes!” Sam cheers, rising to her feet as Ruby dodges a defender to tap the ball further down the field. </p><p>“Come on, come on…” Lena urges in Sam’s ear, as clear as if she were on the other end of the phone line. “Keep going, Rubes!”</p><p>“Aaaand…” Sam watches with bated breath as Ruby converges on the goal. Ruby winds her leg back to snap the ball into the net– only to punt it to her nearest teammate, who sends it sailing down the clear line opened up when the goalie lunges towards Ruby. <em>“YES!”</em></p><p>“SCORE!!”</p><p>Sam rockets to her feet, cheering at the top of her lungs. She claps so hard her hands hurt, and she puts two fingers in her mouth to whistle so loud it makes the other parents flinch. All the while, Lena whoops along in Sam’s ear.</p><p>“That’s my girl!” Lena cries. “She deserves all the ice cream!”</p><p>Ruby flashes the crowd a peace sign as she trots back to home turf. She catches her mom’s eye, and beams suddenly when she sees the active lenses. Lena? she mouths on her way past, and shoots off a kilowatt smile with her next wave when Sam nods.</p><p>“Give her a hug for me, will you?”</p><p>At that, Sam’s smile dims. She heaves a quiet sigh. “You could come give her a hug yourself, you know.”</p><p>Lena huffs a quiet sigh of her own. “You know I can’t…”</p><p>“I know you have a major branch in Metropolis that would benefit from a visit by the COO, and that Lex can easily spare you from National City for the weekend.”</p><p>“Sam…”</p><p>“I know,” Sam relents. “I know, I’m sorry. I just…” </p><p>She misses her friends. She’d gotten used to having more than just Ruby in her life, and it’s harder for Sam’s world to center around a teenager starting to build her own.</p><p>But Sam was the one who decided to leave. She can’t expect them to drop everything and come visit anytime she feels lonely.</p><p>“I wish you were here.”</p><p>A quiet pause follows, and then she hears a soft, “maybe I can be.”</p><p>Before Sam can ask what she means, Lena appears in the space next to her. She’s wearing tailored jeans and a designer top– Lena’s weekend office look. But her hair is tied in a bouncing ponytail, and if Sam ignored the Jimmy Choo’s Lena almost blended in with the other parents. </p><p>Almost. </p><p>“How…?” </p><p>“A new feature that’s still in beta.”</p><p>Sam shakes her head in wonder. “I won’t tell if you won’t.”</p><p>Lena breaks into a smile. It’s as beautiful as Sam remembers, but thin with exhaustion. The skin under her eyes is puffy, her cheeks slightly hollowed by stress. She hasn’t seen this version of Lena since college.</p><p>“Hey…” Sam says. “Everything okay?” </p><p>Lena looks at her with dull eyes, and in the time it takes Sam to blink Lena’s image sharpens– the dark circles disappear, and her cheeks take on a rosy tint. Her smile deepens, now reaching her eyes, and Sam has to wonder if she’d imagined the exhaustion she’d glimpsed.</p><p>“Yeah, fine,” Lena returns, brushing off her concern. Green eyes turn to the pitch when the ref whistles the players back into play. “Let’s go, Ruby!”</p><p>They settle back onto the bench together, and when Lena threads their fingers together, Sam’s palm heats with simulated warmth. It was… nothing short of amazing. </p><p>Some of her loneliness melts away in the next breath, and Sam leans into Lena’s side.</p><p>“Thank you,” she murmurs softly.</p><p>It’s a long moment before Lena responds. When she does, it’s almost inaudible in the buzz of the crowd.</p><p>“I miss you too.”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Chapter 4</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>PROMPT: Kara/Lena -- Lena loses her mind (memory loss, Alzheimer, your choice), sacrificing herself to stop Leviathan/Lex at the last moment. Kara dedicates herself to bringing Lena back. (submitted by boardgamer88)</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“You’re… leaving?”</p><p>The grin that answers Kara Danvers’ question is open and delighted–everything Kara hoped to reclaim after their fallout, but now sits heavy on her conscience. </p><p>
  <em>“What did you do, Acrata?”</em>
</p><p>Lena’s gaze is bright over her smile. She moves efficiently behind the chaos that is her desk. It’s a Saturday, and yet it looks like all hell broke loose.</p><p>“Don’t say it like that,” Lena laughs. She does that more, now. “It’s only for a few months.”</p><p>“Half a year.”</p><p>The news had broken overnight– Lena Luthor taking a sabbatical to personally oversee the implementation of new relief efforts overseas. The chaos was Lena packing, making way for the interim CEO.</p><p>“Don’t worry, L-Corp is in good hands. Our CFO Sam Arias is highly capable. In fact, I think the two of you will get along really well.”</p><p>
  <em>The woman of shadow gazes at Lena, cradled unconscious in her arms. She meets Kara’s gaze with a softness Kara doesn’t expect.</em>
</p><p>Kara nods, swallowing. “Yeah. I know. We, ah– we met, the last time she was in National City.”</p><p>There’s a split second of silence as the pieces snap back into place. Then Lena laughs it off, brushing the lapse aside with a wave of her hand. “Right. I keep forgetting she was here before.”</p><p>
  <em>“What did you do?”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“I have taken her darkness.”</em>
</p><p>“You’d think I’d remember something as idiotic as buying a media conglomerate,” Lena comments on her own lacking memory. “I don’t know what I was thinking!”</p><p>You were saving the world, Kara almost tells her, the only way you knew how.</p><p>
  <em>The loss of Lena’s memory had come as a shock and a heartbreak: the first in realizing how much of Lena’s life was missing without the bitter darkness that had so pervaded it, and the latter in the discovery that Kara Danvers had been lost in the purge along with Supergirl.</em>
</p><p>“Are you sure about this?” </p><p>At that, Lena pauses. Her gaze turns thoughtful, and then her features crease into a smile. “Yes,” she gushes. “These last few weeks have been difficult, to say the least, but– is it strange to say that I think this is the happiest I’ve ever been? I mean… I can’t remember the last time I felt so… light.”</p><p>Kara squeezes out a smile, even as her heart sinks.</p><p>“There’s a whole world out there,” Lena continues. “If I’m going to help make it better, shouldn’t I go out there and live in it?”</p><p>The fact Lena had felt burdened comes as little surprise, but it’s a cold comfort when Kara helped add to the weight.</p><p>Adjusting her glasses, Kara takes a deep breath and lets some of Lena’s enthusiasm bleed through her own reticence. She steps forward with arms spread for a hug, and Lena slips in to fill them without hesitation. </p><p>“I’m going to miss you,” she says into Lena’s shoulder. Lena’s arms circle around her, as fierce a hug as she used to give, back before the Daxamite Invasion. It feels like a lifetime ago now. Kara tightens her arms around Lena’s shoulders, prolonging the contact.</p><p>“There is cell service in Africa, you know,” Lena teases.</p><p>She doesn’t move away, though.</p><p>Even without her memories, Lena had accepted the fact of their friendship readily enough. So readily that guilt soon prodded Kara into nearly telling Lena all the reasons why she shouldn’t. Only Alex kept the truth at bay– the truth that forcing their history on Lena now would not only be unfair, but cruel. </p><p>In some moments, it felt as though nothing had ever come between them. In others– in those moments Lena seemed like a whole new person– it felt different. Kara hadn’t had to climb Lena’s walls to rebuild from the ground up, she hadn’t had to make anything right. Lena no longer has walls. No more suspicions, no reasons to be wary. In a way, however close they seemed, in Kara’s heart the win feels… cheap.</p><p>“Promise me you’ll videochat,” Kara pulls back with a sniffle. “Emails will just not cut it.”</p><p>Lena laughs again, all sunshine and warmth. </p><p>“I thought that was a given.”</p><p>—</p><p>Lena keeps their promise, better than Kara does. Supergirl business waits for no video call, and somewhere between the months apart and the missed calls, Lena settles into her new self without Kara.</p><p>Before Kara knows it, it’s been five months without Lena, and she spots the headline in the grocery checkout line. A New Luthor Romance, the headline touts, complete with pictures of Lena standing close to Diana Prince, of them leaning close to whisper something in her ear. L-Corp has no comment on the speculation of its CEO’s sexual orientation, leaving pundits to duke it out themselves as they argue whether the lean was truly a kiss or just an attempt to be heard in a crowd. </p><p>Kara only needs one look at Lena during their next video call to know the truth.</p><p>Lena’s eyes sparkle with new light, and her smile shines just that much more. Kara makes a point not to mention the photos.</p><p>“I can’t believe how pink you are!” she teases. “I can’t wait to see you next month. You’re going to have the best tan in National City, which is saying a <em>lot–”</em></p><p>“Don’t get your hopes up,” Lena’s feed stuttered on Kara’s computer screen. “I don’t tan, I burn. I’ve been slathering myself with sunscreen every hour on the hour, but there isn’t enough SPF in the world, apparently.”</p><p>Chuckling, Kara tilts her head in another, warmer tease. “Well then, I’ll just be excited to see you then.”</p><p>Lena’s grin softens, even as the picture pixelates before jumping back into focus. “You too. But I think now would be a good time to let you know I’ll be extending my sabbatical.”</p><p>Kara’s heart plummets. “Oh.”</p><p>“Don’t worry, I’ll still be coming back to National City next month as promised, but it’ll only be for a quick visit.”</p><p>With a slow nod, Kara swallows thickly. “Is your work out there taking longer than expected?”</p><p>“No, no, everything has gone really well, and we’re already seeing some promising results.”</p><p>Of course they are. They have Lena Luthor.</p><p>“Actually,” Lena continues, voice softer, “Diana has invited me to Paris when we wrap up, and I plan to take her up on it.”</p><p>Kara forces a smile. “Just like that?”</p><p>“She promised a good time, and Sam has L-Corp well in hand, so I figured why not.”</p><p>Why not.</p><p>Kara blinks, and the world refocuses around her. In the heady moment that follows, she comes to the realization that she was not just looking at Lena Luthor, but a Lena Luthor unshackled by guilt. A Lena who had the freedom to act on whims and follow new love across continents for no other reason than that she wants to.</p><p>This is Lena without Supergirl.</p><p>Without Kara.</p><p>With a quiet smile, Kara lets her go.</p><p>“All right, but only if you send me croissants.”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. Chapter 5</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>PROMPT: Supercorp -- they are locked in a room togetherness they talk (the bottle episode you mention) (submitted by humaninprogress77)</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Lena stumbles when rough hands shove her into a room, tripping to catch herself on cuffed hands as the door slams shut behind her. </p><p>“Lena!” </p><p>She flinches from hands that grab her shoulders, shoving away from the body in front of her just as fingers pluck at the hood over her head and lift the darkness from her vision.</p><p>Concerned blue eyes gaze at her, almost purple in the red haze filling the room. Kara’s hands are also handcuffed, and a similar hood sits discarded in the far corner. Lena’s brain inhales a stream of data– someone knows Kara is Supergirl, Kara doesn’t have her powers, she’s stuck in a room with Kara the liar Danvers– and spits out a single realization: she is absolutely screwed.</p><p>“Are you in pain?” Lena asks, before Kara can say anything further. </p><p>She assumes the red haze is a red sun simulator, but the risk of red kryptonite flits at the back of her mind like a ghost. </p><p>Kara shakes her head. “No. I’m fine. Really.”</p><p>Lena nods a receipt, and reflexively reaches into her hair to withdraw a bobby pin. Snapping it in two, she folds one piece into an L, and inserts it into the lock of Kara’s cuffs. A little bit of tension on the mechanism, an assisting scoop from the other half of the hairpin, and the cuff falls away from Kara’s right wrist.</p><p>She ignores the beat of silent surprise that follows. “Thanks.”</p><p>Within moments Lena’s given her own cuffs the same treatment, and she snaps the open cuff closed next to its mate on her left wrist. </p><p>Kara hesitates. “Umm… shouldn’t we take them off?”</p><p>“They may not have spares,” Lena states, “which means if they want to restrain us again, they’re going to have to work for it.”</p><p>“Oh. Right.” The hero follows suit, soon sporting a set of matching bracelets. </p><p>Lena climbs to her feet and starts moving, examining every corner of the room before turning her attention on the door itself. No cameras is a rookie mistake– a mistake incongruous with someone who knew Supergirl’s secret identity. </p><p>An identity Lena is steadfastly ignoring. </p><p>“You seem very… calm,” Kara observes, after several long minutes of quiet. </p><p>Halfway through trying to slip her fingers between the door and it’s ill-fitting jamb, Lena loses the fight against rolling her eyes. “And how am I supposed to seem at a time like this?”</p><p>“Scared? I know I am. A little.”</p><p>Hm, a Kryptonian without her powers? Scared? </p><p>
  <em>No shit.</em>
</p><p>“What?”</p><p>“I said,” Lena covers her mumbled slip of the tongue deftly, “that my first abduction happened at age eight. Fear serves no purpose in a situation like this.” </p><p>It shuts Kara up for a blessed few minutes, allowing Lena to work in peace. Then…</p><p>“You were only eight?”</p><p>“Don’t.”</p><p>“Don’t… what?”</p><p>Lena shoves away from the door, whirling to face her former friend. “Don’t pretend you give a single shit about what happened before you met me.”</p><p>She expects Kara to shrink away, to tuck her tail and retreat. To her surprise, Kara’s features harden.</p><p>“I do care, Lena. That was never in question.”</p><p>“Oh, right! You do care,” Lena drawls. “You care enough to learn all about me, about all the hurt and betrayal I’ve faced all my life, and then throw all it all back in my face at once by lying to me!”</p><p>“I was afraid of losing you!”</p><p>“You wouldn’t have lost <em>anything</em> if you’d just TOLD me!”</p><p>“I KNOW THAT!”</p><p>Lena stops short. She stares as a dozen emotions flash across Kara’s features before remorse takes root. Kara hugs herself, shrugging helplessly. “I know that now. I– I had a chance to tell you multiple times, and each one, no matter how hurt you were, you always came around. You were always my friend.”</p><p>Lena tries to revel in the grief that emanates from Kara, in her misery. She always had before. Her sole comfort in betrayals was the way her former friends desperately tried to backpedal their way out of her scorn. But Lena’s never seen any of them embrace it. Never had any of them accept responsibility, agree with her, see her pain and tell her she’s right.</p><p>“I wish I’d known that before, but I didn’t, and I made a choice that hurt you. And I’m sorry for that. I’m so sorry. I never, never wanted to hurt you. I knew it would, so I tried to put it off for as long as possible, telling myself it was a decision I made for your sake, but it was for mine. I lied to you because I knew my life would be worse for not having you in it, and I wasn’t brave enough to face that reality.”</p><p>Kara’s voice wobbles, and her eyes glimmer with tears. Lena stares, watching the moisture tremble on her eyelashes, never quite falling. She sees the purse of Kara’s lips, the tightening of her jaw, and staunchly ignores the lump that rises in her own throat.</p><p>“And the worst part is that I don’t know how to make it right,” Kara continues, fainter now. “I broke something precious and I can’t fix it! I want to– I’d do anything to make it better, but I can’t if you won’t let me, and… and that means that I have to accept that you may never let me even try. And that– it breaks my heart.”</p><p>The words bring Lena back to herself, and she finally breaks her gaze away. Her arms squeeze so tightly folded against her chest that they ache, and her fingers press creases into the sleeves of her blouse. </p><p>“It breaks my heart because it seems like you want me to.”</p><p>There are a lot of things Lena can say about Kara Danvers. A lack of insight isn’t one of them. Because even as anger and hurt simmer in the pit of her stomach, need fills her chest, seeping into her heart and sinking its claws in so deeply that it’s all Lena can do to keep from reaching for a hug right now.</p><p>To further discourage the impulse, Lena turns away from both Kara and the damn door, and slides down to sit against the adjacent wall. After a moment, Kara thwarts her effort to gain distance by coming to sit beside her.</p><p>“So… the door?”</p><p>Lena sighs. “It’s a bust.”</p><p>“What now?”</p><p>“We take a break.”</p><p>Kara nods, letting her head rest on the wall. Lena echoes the lean, staring unfocused at the far join between wall and ceiling. </p><p>“And then what do we do?” Kara asks softly.</p><p>Lena sighs, and rolls her head to look at Kara.</p><p>“Then… we try something else.”</p>
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<a name="section0006"><h2>6. Chapter 6</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>PROMPT: Any chance we can get Alex and Lena (as a couple) being quarantined? (submitted by mouser003)</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“Ugh… I’m <em>BORED.”</em></p><p>Alex tilts her chin to gaze at the image of an upside down Lena, curled in the neighboring armchair. The blood quickly rushes to her head, and she rights herself enough to see Lena’s grin turn right side up. She stares for a long moment. It seems flopping over the side of the couch like a child pulls an exceptionally shiny smile to Lena’s lips. Noted.</p><p>“Let’s do something.”</p><p>Lena looks up from her laptop, one eyebrow raising. “It may not look like it, but work does continue per usual for the CEO of an international conglomerate. The office closures alone–”</p><p>“Blah blah blah.”</p><p>With the DEO already disbanded, it had been an easy call to halt the dismantling of the building’s facilities in favor of quarantine. The prospect of postponing the nullification of her life’s work had felt like a blessing. Of course, now that she was on her fourth day of absolute nothing-ness, she’d take the undoing of her entire career over this boredom.</p><p>Lena isn’t impressed. “How incredibly mature of you.”</p><p>Alex rolls over and slouches deeper into the couch, reaching out one leg to niggle at Lena’s knee. “Lenaaaaa…”</p><p>A sigh.</p><p>“Look in the center console.”</p><p>Perking up immediately, Alex bounces to the armrest, lifting up to the cover to find…</p><p>“Knitting?”</p><p>Lena hums in affirmation. The two needles were already joined by a project in process, an elaborate sleeve of crafted in a cable knit pattern. A skein of yarn trails from the other side, soft and pliable. </p><p>“I can’t do anything this elaborate.”</p><p>“Do whatever you like,” Lena invites. “It was just something to pass the time when I had a spare moment.”</p><p>Alex frowns at the project, furtively avoiding Lena’s gaze. She doesn’t know how to knit at all. Her grandmother had tried to show her once, before she passed, but she hadn’t had the patience for it: called it stupid and stalked off to kick a soccer ball around in the yard by herself. Kara had learned, as a lesson in gentle hands and fingers, and even then Alex had scorned it. Now, it was the only thing that stood between her and the yawning abyss of inactivity.</p><p>She hears Lena reach for the television remote, deftly flipping the tv on and pulling up the vidtube app. In a matter of moments, she’s pulled up a knitting for dummies lesson, and hands the remote back to Alex.</p><p>“Have at it.”</p><p>It takes her the rest of the afternoon and several curses, but by the time Lena calls it quits for dinner, Alex has the beginnings of a loose, gappy scarf on her needles. She leans into Lena’s embrace when her girlfriend leans over the back of the couch to kiss her cheek.</p><p>“Looks good.”</p><p>Alex snorts. “No it doesn’t,” she laughs. “But thank you.”</p><p>She turns, and Lena presses a warm, full kiss on her lips.</p><p>“You’re welcome.”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0007"><h2>7. Chapter 7</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>PROMPT: Supergirl S5 AU where everything is the same except Lena is disguised as William (who doesn't actually exist) so that she and Kara can meet "in secret" to take down Lex (Lena still a bit miffed about the supersecret but priorities) and along the way the feelings happen (submitted by whitebeltwriter)</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“We have got to stop meeting like this, <em>William,”</em> Kara huffs against Lena’s wanting lips, even as her hands fumble at the buttons hiding Lena’s breasts behind the fabric of her blouse. </p><p>Lena’s lips smirk against hers, and then nip sharply at Kara’s bottom lip. “As if you don’t enjoy it so thoroughly, <em>Supergirl.</em>”</p><p>Kara’s senses cut out as Lena’s fingers dip into the front of her pants and press against Kara’s bud, already throbbing with desire. She can only moan, a sound that peters to a whine that’s swallowed by Lena’s probing tongue.</p><p>Once she reclaims her stolen breath, Kara pants, “What I don’t enjoy is fighting.”</p><p>When Lena had proposed staging a rift in their friendship in order to engender Lex’s trust, and thus his weaknesses, Kara had readily agreed, too relieved that Lena’s hate would be fake to fully consider what it would mean. Now she knows it means one less at game night, deleting their chat history, and no impromptu lunches.</p><p>It means no movie night cuddles, no hidden smiles.</p><p>It means only this– furtive meetings with Lena posing as William on Kara’s phone, asking to discuss an upcoming article in order to secure a moment’s privacy to relay new intel on Lex’s plans, or– more frequently– to do <em>this.</em></p><p>Pressing up against a grungy wall where no one can find them, with seconds ticking down on the clock until Kara will be missed and Lena will be suspected. </p><p>“Mmm,” Lena agrees with Kara’s admission. She pulls back slightly, enough to give Kara full view of her cheeks painted pink in a splotchy flush, lips swollen with kisses both given and received. “But we do it so well.”</p><p>It’s teasing, presented with a fanged grin that promises no good will come of it, but fails to hide the strain lurking behind Lena’s gaze. Kara’s hands spread on Lena’s waist, as close to a hug as she knows Lena will accept right now. Kara may regret her decision to pose as enemies, but the burden on Lena is greater– Lena, who has to face a man she killed and nod along with his twisted plans, all so that Kara and her team can have a hope of staying a step ahead. </p><p>“Soon,” Kara promises, letting her regret go in favor of sinking deeper into her lust. </p><p>She pivots them around until Lena is pressed against the wall, neck and chest glistening with sweat. Lena nods, a touch frantic as Kara hikes up her fitted pencil skirt and kneels between her knees.</p><p>“Soon.”</p>
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<a name="section0008"><h2>8. Chapter 8</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>PROMPT: Rojascorp as GFs enjoying their "vacation" due to the lockdown. (submitted by bm-binger)</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Andrea reaches across the bed and groans when her arm meets nothing but empty sheets.</p><p>Lena has never been one for sleeping in, but surely their homebound quarantined state would inspire just a hint of a lie in. Looking at the bedside clock, Andrea groans again to find that it’s barely 7:30am.</p><p>“Another groan like that and I’ll have to call the CDC to report a zombie.”</p><p>Lena steps into the room with a tray in both hands, a devilish smile on her lips. Andrea’s lips spread into their own grin, and she rolls onto one side to greet her with a bare chest as the sheet falls away.</p><p>“Hey,” she greets softly. Her eyes rove Lena’s body in appreciation. “You look good in my shirt.”</p><p>The button down barely covered Lena’s indecency, but apparently that hadn’t been the reason she’d donned it. “Frying bacon in the nude didn’t quite seem like the best idea.”</p><p>“Yes,” Andrea concurs languidly. As Lena sets the tray down, Andrea reaches past it to brush a rounded breast on her way to tugging her girlfriend closer. “Would be a shame to damage any of your prodigious assets.”</p><p>Lena snorts. “No need to make them sound gargantuan.”</p><p>“The only thing gargantuan is my appreciation for them.”</p><p>“Shut up and eat your damn omelette or I’m taking it back downstairs–” A kiss silences her, and before long the omelette and sliced fruit are set aside for activities far more satiating. When they finish, Andrea reaches down for a strawberry to nibble on as she watches Lena doze. She savors the sweet flesh of the berry, pleased with herself.</p><p>Getting her own way never gets old.</p>
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<a name="section0009"><h2>9. Chapter 9</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>PROMPT: A Lex vs Lena showdown with some drama and hurt/comfort? Also supercorp and if possible some big sister!Alex and Kelly thrown into the mix. (submitted by yuakashi)</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Her plan never fully comes to fruition. It never does, Lena acknowledges. Not when her brother is involved. But with a gunshot wound in her side steadily oozing blood and her hand wrapped around a deadman’s switch, it looks like at least this will be the last of him. </p><p>The last of both of them.</p><p>“Don’t pretend you’re going to let go of that detonator,” Lex sneers from where he lays. He has his own pool of blood spreading around him, thanks to the fight that had ended with Lena’s rapier in his gut. “We both know you’re too weak.”</p><p>“Last time you doubted me, you ended up with a bullet in your chest.”</p><p>Her brother coughs wetly. “Proudest day of my life. My baby sister finally growing a spine.” When he laughs, bloody spittle spatters against the tile floor. “Shame it didn’t stick.”</p><p>Lena knows he means her resolve, but her brain jumps to his death. She’d killed and the bastard had somehow crawled his way back not only to life, but to the same pedestal he’d fallen from years before. </p><p>“This time, I’ll make sure it does.”</p><p>“And take yourself out with me? Kamikaze isn’t your style. Never was. Too much good left to do, right? Always.”</p><p>Lena shakes her head, and moans when it sets the world to spinning. She slumps against the wall behind her, exhausted. She’s done. She knows it. She can feel it in the warmth of her own blood coating her chilling skin, in the empty room around her. </p><p>She gazes at the detonator in her grip, and feels her fingers start to relax.</p><p>“Not this time.”</p><p>Dying without anyone to mourn had always been a possibility for her future. She just never imagined it would feel this lonely.</p><p>“Lena, stop!” </p><p>The sharp shout snaps her back into focus– her grip reflexively firms on the detonator, ensuring her death would last just a little bit longer. </p><p>She looks up to find Alex Danvers sprinting towards her with James’ sister on her heels. Kelly. A sob claws its way up Lena’s throat. They aren’t the faces Lena wants to see, but the sight of them still spreads a bloom of warmth in her empty chest.</p><p>Alex slides to her knees in front of her, only stopping when Lena finally has the presence of mind to pull away.</p><p>“Don’t come any closer,” she rasps, lifting the detonator in warning. “Don’t try and stop this Alex.”</p><p>“What are you even doing?” Alex beseeches. “Why didn’t you wait?”</p><p>“Wait for what? For him to get away? Or for the goons to come for me too?”</p><p>A shadow of doubt flickers behind the agent’s eyes. “Face it, Alex. If I’m arrested, I’ll be the only Luthor who stays in prison. We both know it. This is the only way to stop him.”</p><p>Alex shakes her head. “No. No it isn’t. You’re not a murderer.”</p><p>Lex laughs, low at first, then tumbling into a gasping guffaw. Alex ignores him.</p><p>“Lena, listen to me.”</p><p>A warm hand touches her knee.</p><p>“I know things have been rough. I can only imagine what it must feel like, to have your entire world turned upside down again and again. First your brother, and then Kara, and now Lex again–”</p><p>“You too. You lied too.”</p><p>“I did. And I’m sorry for that.”</p><p>Lena isn’t expecting the admission or the apology. They sit, heavy and sour, waiting for a response that Lena can’t provide. Her thoughts feel slow, and she knows it won’t be long until she doesn’t have a choice. None of them would.</p><p>“Go,” she croaks. “Only Luthors need to die today.”</p><p>“Bullshit.” Alex’s pleading sharpens into anger. “That is such bullshit. This isn’t some grand attempt to rid the world of your poison, or curse, or whatever the hell you’re calling it! You’re giving up!”</p><p>Huffing a laugh, Lena nods weakly. “Late to the party as ever.”</p><p>“I will not let you–”</p><p>“What else is there?”</p><p>“Everything! Jesus, Lena!”</p><p>Everything. </p><p>The idea forms bittersweet in Lena’s mind. She used to have it all. Everything she ever thought she wanted. Now… now she has no friends, no company, and no reputation, good or bad. She’s just… a name. A shell. No one in this reality knows her. No one cares to. </p><p>Mind wandering, Lena calmly observes that her entire life ended the day she shot Lex. She lost Kara. She put Lex in a position to reset reality. This… this would just be a formality.</p><p>“You have L-Corp, Lena. With Lex gone you’ll have full control– you can rebuild everything–!”</p><p>“Just to lose it all again? No, thank you.”</p><p>Doesn’t she realize how hard it was to rebuild L-Corp the first time? To claw every success from the jaws of defeat, only to be knocked down again on the next pass? While she had found enough happiness in it at the time, it had been a neverending struggle. The idea of accepting that struggle again when true peace was so close at hand… It fills every inch of her, and she knows the darkness at the edges of her vision will soon swallow her completely. </p><p>She’s ready. </p><p>But Alex isn’t done.</p><p>“I lost my father,” Alex confesses. The urgency of before is gone, and suddenly it feels as though they are the only two in the room. “More times than I can count. I’ve grieved my sister’s death. I looked down the barrel of reality unraveling itself, and I still can’t imagine how you must feel right now. But I know… I know how inviting it is to just… let go.”</p><p>Lena struggles to lift her head, until a callused hand cups her cheek and helps tip her chin up to regard Alex gazing steadily back at her. Unwavering.</p><p>“All I’m asking is for you to let us help you let go,” that kind face says, “and keep going.”</p><p>The words don’t process in a way that makes sense to Lena’s dimming mind. All she knows is that the agent settles on the ground like she’s in for the long haul, and Kelly hovers unwilling to leave Alex. They’ll both die with her.</p><p>However willing she is to die, Lena knows she can’t bring the both of them with her.</p><p>She summons the final dregs of her energy to nod. When fingers reach for the detonator, it’s not to take it from her, but to wrap securely around Lena’s failing grip. Though it’s just her hand, the touch feels like an embrace, and when Lena blinks fat tears squeeze from her eyes to splash on numbed cheeks. </p><p>Behind Alex, Lex cackles roughly, lifting a detonator of his own. </p><p>“Like I said. Weak.”</p><p>He presses the button.</p><p>“ALEX!”</p><p>Kelly darts forward, Guardian’s shield expanding on her arm. Alex hunches over Lena’s fist, squeezing with all her might. Lena’s last thought as her vision fills with Kelly shielding all three of them under a shimmering blue forcefield is that she really should upgrade James’ gear.</p><p>—</p><p>Lena wakes to nothingness.</p><p>
  <em>Ow.</em>
</p><p>Oh. Maybe not quite.</p><p>She pries open her eyes and squints at the medbay around her, registering the glass panes separating them from the rest of the building and the sleeping figure slumped in a visitor’s chair at the side of her bed.</p><p>Kara.</p><p>“For fuck’s sake.”</p><p>Supergirl bolts awake, eyes blinking blearily before focusing on Lena. “Lena–”</p><p>“Don’t.”</p><p>There’s a surprising bite to her tone, contrary to scrape it takes to get her voice to leave her throat. It stops Kara in her tracks, and she sits back as though Lena had smacked her hands away from reaching. </p><p>Huh. Looks like she might have a superpower of her own.</p><p>Guilt trips.</p><p>Lillian would be thrilled.</p><p>“I’m just… too tired to do this again.”</p><p>Kara’s gaze falls briefly, before returning to Lena’s gaze. “Do what?”</p><p>“This. All of it. I don’t– I don’t want it.”</p><p>Oh, sure. Now her voice decides to wimp out.</p><p>She switches tacks, reaching for the first thing that came to mind. “Alex?”</p><p>Kara nods. “She’s fine. So’s Kelly. They were both discharged days ago. You would be too, except for the bullet in your side.”</p><p>So the gunshot wound is what kept her here in Kara’s reach. Great. She’d have to thank Lex for…</p><p>Alarm twinges in Lena’s chest. </p><p>“And Lex?”</p><p>A pause precedes Kara’s response, and in that interminable moment Lena’s mind races towards the worst. </p><p>“Dead. As far as we can tell. His remains were identified through his dental records, and DNA is pending, but…”</p><p>“Death doesn’t seem to stick, does it?”</p><p>“Only for those who deserve it least.”</p><p>Lena can hear the weight of lives in Kara’s words: lives lost, lives she still answered for, lives she would never forgive herself for losing. She’s sure Alex is one of them. Maybe even Kelly. Lena’s not so sure she does, anymore.</p><p>“Lena?”</p><p>Turning her head, Lena meets Kara’s tear-filled gaze. </p><p>“Alex, um… she mentioned some of what you said, in the bunker, and– I just…”</p><p>Lena rolls her eyes back towards the ceiling. “Don’t flatter yourself, Supergirl. It’s been a long time coming.”</p><p>Silence follows, long and deep. Lena can almost imagine she’s alone, and then– “That’s not what I meant.” </p><p>Oh, god. The tears are audible in Kara’s voice, and a lump rises to Lena’s own throat unbidden. </p><p>“I only meant to say– I’m sorry you had to struggle with that alone.”</p><p>Shit. </p><p>“And that I’m here, whenever you want to talk.”</p><p>Lena wants to huff in derision, or roll her eyes again, but she doesn’t trust herself not to break down into tears. She’s spent so long being so angry that she stopped feeling anything altogether. And now all she can feel is sad– for herself, for being unable to reciprocate any of the emotion Kara is exuding with every syllable. The tears in her eyes are sympathetic reflex, nothing more, but there’s no way in hell she’s going to give Supergirl the satisfaction–</p><p>“I’m not going anywhere.”</p><p>All Lena can do is let her fingers curl around the palm that settles in hers.</p><p>For now, it’s enough.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0010"><h2>10. Chapter 10</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>PROMPT: Not a ship one, just hoping for an expansion on your Lena on the Legends series? (submitted by rao12340)</p>
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    <p>Oh no. Sara knows that look.</p><p>“Nope. Nuh uh.”</p><p>“But it’s Catherine the Great!”</p><p>“Which means haughty aristocrats with a thing for clear skin and good teeth. You know how it plays out if we let you run amok with the nobility: prison or bedrooms. And this is one mission where we don’t need either.”</p><p>Greens eyes narrow dangerously on Sara, and she schools her features into a matching scowl. “You’re one to talk.”</p><p>Sara cocks a grin. “Flattery will get you nowhere, Luthor.”</p><p>Lena huffs in frustration, throwing a rude gesture that only deepens Sara’s smirk. It’s moments like this that make her marvel that their newest crew member has only been with them a few months– she doubts anyone in National City ever saw this kind of fervent petulance.</p><p>“It’s bullshit! No one else on this ship knows Russian history like I do, let alone the Catherinian Era.”</p><p>“I can hear you,” a phantom voice spoke. </p><p>Lena gave a reluctant fidget. “Besides Gideon,” she amended.</p><p>“Thank you,” the computer graciously acknowledged. </p><p>“But come on, Sara! It’s Catherine the Great! The woman who started a lowly German princess and then orchestrated a complete coup against her deranged and immature husband by winning the love of the people and proving herself entirely competent! She, she…”</p><p>“She’s you.”</p><p>Sara’s summation freezes Lena in her tracks. She watches Lena stare at her, blinking as a flush spills up her cheeks. As much as she’d love to see her try to talk it back, as captain Sara takes pity on her. </p><p>“Look, I get it. I do. But we need to maintain a low profile, and that means you, oh lady of ivory skin and raven locks, stay here and run back up. Last thing we need is someone deciding you’re prettier, or freaking <em>Rasputin</em> thinking he’s got a contender for court magician.”</p><p>“See,<em> I </em>know Rasputin’s not going to be an issue for another five generations, but would Mick?”</p><p>Sara shakes her head.</p><p>“I’ve met two of her descendants, for god’s sake!”</p><p>“Sorry, Lena. Decision’s made. You stay here.”</p><p>One thing Sara likes most about Lena is that however much she argues, she relents when Sara pulls out the voice of authority. Lena sighs, throwing her hands up. </p><p>“Fine. But you know it’s gonna go screwy and I’m going to have to come in and save you anyway, right?”</p><p>Sara waggles her eyebrows before sauntering towards the hatch. “Just make sure you don’t come in on horseback.”</p><p>She’s rewarded with a growl of indignation.</p><p>
  <em>“That never happened!”</em>
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